Background: Enterococci are recognized as a cause of nosocomial infections and a major public health problem. The reliable identifi cation to the species level of enterococci should be considered. Objectives: The study aimed to develop a LAMP assay for the rapid and accurate detection of Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium. Methods: In total, 57 enterococcal isolates from UTI patients were identifi ed using conventional microbiological methods. Two sets of specifi c primers were designed for E. faecalis and E. faecium targeting the mtlf and efmC genes, respectively. The LAMP assays were conducted using specifi c primers, dNTPs, MgSO4, Bst DNA polymerase, and templates. Results: The results of phenotypic testing indicated that of the 57 enterococcal isolates, 49 (85. 9%) were identifi ed as E. faecalis and eight (14. 1%) as E. faecium. The optimal reaction temperatures in the LAMP assays were 60 and 61º C for the detection of E. faecalis and E. faecium, respectively. All the 57 enterococcal isolates were identifi ed as E. faecalis by the LAMP assay. Conclusions: The present study highlights the importance of the LAMP assay as a rapid and confi rmatory tool for the identifi cation of clinical Enterococcus spp.

Image magnification is one of the current issues of image processing in which keeping the quality and structure of images is the main concern. In image magnification, it is necessary to insert information in extra pixels. Adding information to an image should be compatible with the image structure with- out making artificial blocks. In this research, extra pixels are estimated using the surface of least squares, and all the pixels are reviewed according to the suggested edge-improving algorithm. The suggested ethod keeps the edges and minimizes the magnified image opacity and the artificial blocks. Numerical results are presented by using PSNR and SSIM fidelity measures and compared to some other methods. The average PSNR of the original image and image zooming is 32.79 which it shows that image zooming is very similar to the original image. Experimental results show that the proposed method has a better performance than others and provides good image quality.

A study of the [C6H6Ir (PH3) 3]+ iridatropylium cation structure based on frontier orbital analysis, thermodynamic analysis, and natural bond orbital (NBO) theory is the main aim of the present research. Also, HOMO, LUMO energies, hardness, electrophilicity and chemical potential were calculated. Structural analysis indicated the optimized geometry shows a good agreement with the experimental results in iridabenzene.The thermodynamic properties at different temperatures were calculated, revealing the correlations between standard heat capacity, standard entropy, standard enthalpy changes and temperature. Quantum theory of atoms in molecule analysis (QTAIM) was used for characterizing of Ir-P and Ir-c bonds.

Background: For 40 years cricoid pressure has been used to prevent regurgitation of gastric contents during induction of anesthesia. Available studies have highlighted poor techniques regarding cricoid pressure. Patient safety could be challenged by incorrect use of cricoid pressure. The aim of this study was to assess the practice and knowledge of cricoid pressure among anesthesiologist attending in the ninth International Congress of Anesthesiology and Resucitaltion in Iran. Materials and methods: This cross sectional observational study included 59 anesthesionlogists attending the 9th International Iranian Congress of Anesthesia and Resuscitation in 2006. Each subject was asked to apply cricoid pressure on an undressed laryngeal model for one minute. The model was an anatomically correct representation of the human larynx. It was mounted onto the base plate of kitchen scales (LAICA Italy) with a range of 0.000 to 10.000 kg and a resolution of 100g. The model was placed on a table such that the crioid cartilage was at a height of 1 metre from the ground. Participants were blinded to the results. Five measurements were obtained from each candidate (0, 15, 30, 45 and 60th second). Participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire containing demographic data and some questions regarding attiude and knowledge of participants regarding Sellicks maeuver.Results: Eighteen (30%) participants applied the target cricoid force (3-4 kg). When considering both correct anatomical position and right range of applied force only 11 (19%) participants were successful. Mean applied force significantly decreased at the end of one minute and mean applied force by women was significantly less than men. There was no statistically significant difference between academic staff and other anesthesiologist in application of target force. Only eight (13.6%) participant were aware of the target cricoid force.Conclusion: Application of cricoid pressure by the participant anesthesiologist is poor. Use of simple models for training of anesthesia trainee and in refresher courses for practicing anesthesiologist in addition of stressing on the theorytical base may improve the quality of performance of the Sellicks maneuver.

In this work, the different fuels (citric acid, glycine and urea) were used for solution combustion synthesis of CoFe2O4 powders. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques were employed for characterization of phase evolution, cation distribution, microstructure and magnetic properties of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders. Single phase CoFe2O4 powders with partially inverse structure in which the Co2+ cations are distributed in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites were synthesized by the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels. The as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders by the citric acid fuel exhibited the highest inversion coefficient. The crystallite size of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders synthesized by urea fuel was 15 nm, increased to 41 and 52 nm for the glycine and citric acid fuels, respectively. Furthermore, the solution combusted CoFe2O4 powders showed ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization of 61. 9, 63. 6 and 41. 6 emu/g for the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels, respectively. The high crystallinity and particle size of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders using glycine fuel led to the highest magnetization and the moderate coercivity.